Social Mechanisms : An Analytical Approach to Social Theory

Professor of Sociology Peter Hedstrom; Professor of Economic Sociology Richard Swedberg; Gudmund Hernes
Cambridge University Press
 9780521596879
0-521-59687-4

The mechanism approach calls attention to an intermediary level of analysis, in between pure description and story-telling, on the one hand, and grand theorizing and universal social laws, on the other..

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These essays, written by prominent social scientists, advance criticisms of current trends in social theory and suggest alternative approaches. For social theory to be of use for the working social scientist, it must attain a high level of precision and provide a toolbox from which middle range theories can be constructed.